Ring for use in a spinning frame



Aug. 30, 1938. N. KOBAYASHI RING FOR USE IN A SPINNING FRAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 3, 1936 F] E A Fl-EZ- 1938. N. KOBAYASHI ,6

RING FOR USE IN A SPINNING FRAME Tiled Jan. 3, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 30, 1938 UNETED STATES PATENT OF FIQE 2,128,614 I t RING FOR USE IN A SPINNING'FRAME Norio Kobayashi, Kawachi-gun, Osaka, Japan Application January 3, 1936, Serial No. 57,415

ll Claim. (01. 117--59.5j

This invention relates to improvements inrings for use in a spinning frame, and particularly rings made of sheet steel.

Heretofore, the ring for a spinning frame has been usually manufactured from a block of low carbon steel by the operations of forging, machining, grinding, carbonizing or case-hardening, and the last operation of hardening. In such operations, not only many difiiculties have been encountered in' obtaining the desired shaping, but also the quality of the product largely depends upon the temperature and length of the carbonizing operation, the carbonizing medium used, and the size of the oven or furnace and size and shape of the box employed for carbonizing operation, etc. Thus, the produced article is inferior from a number of viewpoints, among which may be mentioned:--

(a) Unevenness of the shape and dimension of the main portion of the ring;

(b) The main portion is generally insufficiently ground, If sufficient grinding is eiTected, the desired shape of the main portion is inevitably injured since such shape is hard to attain;

(c) All rings cannot be subjected to an equal degree ofpcarbonization, so that it is not possible to obtain equal hardness by a'subsequent hardening process throughout all the products;

(d) in one and the same ring, the effect of the carbonizing operationcan not beuniformly distributedover the whole circumference, so that the hardened article does not possess uniformity of hardness and, consequently, a wavy wear of the ring occurs after a certain period of use;

(e) Required hardness is obtained on the skin only, and the hardness gradually decreases toward the center of the mass of the ring, sothat the ring will have to be abandoned after small wear;

(1) 'Due to the fact that the head, neck and body of the ring have different thicknessesand that the degree of carbonization is not uniformly distributed in'circumferential as well as radial directions, irregularity of contraction and expansion can not be avoided at the time of the final hardening process, in consequence of which the shape of the final product is considerably strained, failing to obtain a true circle ring.

Besides the above-mentioned defects, the existing ring has the drawback that it is relatively heavy, in consequence of which theconsumption of power required for the building motion is relatively large, and it requires a separate lubricating system when it is desirable to effect lubrication of the-surface along which the traveller runs.

This invention has for its object to obtain an improved superior ring, thereby removing near- 1y all of the above-mentioned disadvantages inherent to existing rings made according to the ordinary method.

With the above object in. view, according to this invention, the ring is manufactured from a relatively thin sheet of steel containing the required amount of carbon (or certain of the alloy steels) adapted to be hardened by ordinary heat treatment, and the method consists in first forming said sheet of steel into a cup with a central opening in the cup bottom, then subjecting it to stages of rolling and pressing operations so as to shape it into the desired shape of the ring, during which operations a hollow chamber or chambers at one or both ends of the ring is formed by curling the edge or edges, said chamber' or chambers being in communication with the atmosphere through a narrow passage or passages.

'Heretofore, it has been also proposed to make a ring for spinning frames from sheet metal by the, operations of press stamping for the purpose of obtaining a light weight ring at a lower cost of manufacture, but the produced articles were inferior due to stresses setup during the press stampingand due to the fact that a considerable deformation of the ring is unavoidable during the last heat treatment for hardening, and such sheet metal ring has never been practically used. It is believed'that the present inventor is the first-in obtaining a most useful ring made from sheet steel.

- In order thatthisinvent-ion may be clearly understood and readily carried into practice, reference may be had to the appended explanatory sheet of drawings in -which:- a Figures 1 to ll'show diagrammatically successive operations for producing the ring according tothis invention, andse'ctions of the intermediate products obtained by said successive operations;

Figure 12 shows partly in section the final product obtained by said operations;

Figure 13 is a plan thereof;

Figure 14 shows partly in section another form of the ring made according to this invention, secured to a ring rail or plate;

Figures 15 to 20 are sections of various slightly modified forms of the rings;

Figures 21 to 26 show in section different forms of double-rings, all made according to this invention.

In carrying out the invention, a sheet of steel containing a predetermined amount of carbon, preferably about 0.8% of carbon, (or certain alloy steels), is first subjected to a suitable annealing process. Such annealed steel sheet a is pressed into the form of a cup I) as shown in Figure 2. For example, the pressing operation is effected by the press shown in Figure 1, in which I is a die; 2 a punch; 3 a support biased by a spring 4; and 5 is a cutting die. The cup b is out exactly to the required height as shown in Figure 3. Employing for example a press as shown in Figure 4, the cup I) is then pressed into the shape of the cup c shown in Figure 5. In Figure 4, 6 is an upper press die; I a flange forming die; 8 is a spring pressed support; and 9 is a fixed support. The cup 0 thus formed in the press shown in Figure 4 has an annular flange I0 at the bottom of the cup. Said flange I0 and the neck of the cup 0 is shaped and glazed into exactly circular formation by means of a roller I I as shown in Figure 6. The glazed cup 0 is then subjected to a punching machine as shown in Figure 7, and a central opening I2 is punched in the bottom of the cup, as shown in Figure 8.

The cup 0' having the central opening I2 is then gripped by a chuck I3 as shown in Figure 9 and, while being rotated, the inner edge I4 of said opening is curled outwardly by means of a drum-shaped roller I5. The cup 0' is thus formed into a ring (1 as shown in Figure 10. Said ring 0 is gripped by a chuck I6, and the curled edge I4 is further curled upwardly and outwardly and glazed by means of a roller H, as shown in Figure 11. At the same time, the upper surface and the inner edge of the head which is to be engaged by the traveller are shaped and glazed. Thus, the ring has been accurately shaped and glazed on all surfaces by the operations of rolling. The ring R thus completed is shown in Figures 12 and 13. It is to be noted that during said rolling processes a chamber I8 is formed within the head of the rEng, which is in communication with the atmosphere through a narrow slit I9. The ring R. is then subjected to heat treatment for hardening in usual manner.

The invention may be embodied as illustrated in Figures 14 to 26, which will be found selfexplanatory, and any further explanation will not be required. It is to be understood that the forms of rings illustrated are merely examples, and that the invention is applicable to still other forms of rings, as required to suit particular demands.

In the ring made according to this invention, the chamber I8 is formed in the head with which the traveller engages. This chamber I8 is adapted to serve as a lubricant reservoir. Preferably a lubricant such as grease which is normally solid or viscous body but converted into liquid form at somewhat elevated temperature is employed. To introduce the lubricant into the chamber I8, the ring is immersed into the grease maintained at high temperature for a suitable length of time, whereby hot grease will get into the chamber through the slit I9. In order to facilitate the introduction of grease, one or more small holes 20 may be formed at the top portion as shown in Figures 15 to 26. When the ring is allowed to cool, grease in the chamber I8 increases its viscosity to the normal degree and is retained therein. When in use, however, the ring is somewhat heated by the heat of friction produced by the traveller running along the ring at high speed, so that the grease in the chamber I8 is liquefied and flows out of the chamber through the narrow slit I9 at an extremely low rate of flow. Thus, the wearing surface of the ring is automatically lubricated. In order to lubricate also the outer surface, a plurality of small holes 2| are provided along the outer wall as shown in Figures 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25. When the chamber I8 is formed by curling the edge inwardly, leaving a narrow slit I9 on the outside, said holes 2I are formed in the inner wall, as shown in Figures 16, 18, 20, 24 and 26.

In the modified forms shownin Figures 21 to 26, showing double-rings, each ring is provided with two lubricant chambers I8 and I8, each communicating with the atmosphere through a narrow slit, or through a narrow slit and small holes.

It will be understood that the sizes of the slit I9 and holes 20 and 2| are less than what are actually shown in the drawings, and that these excessive sizes shown in the drawings are merely for purpose of illustration.

From. the foregoing, it will be seen that the ring produced according to the invention is considerably lighter in weight, so that a saving of the power required for building motion can be attained. The ring is homogeneous in its structure and hardness throughout the whole mass, without any strain, sothat it is possible to attain a very soft running of the traveller, and there is not any tendency of causing a wavy wear of the ring. Moreover, according to the invention, the ring is equipped with a lubricant reservoir within the ring per so, so that any special lubricating system is not required for the rings. According to the invention, the cost of manufacture may be considerably lowered as compared with the manufacture of the existing rings.

What I claim is:--

A ring for use in spinning frames formed from a single piece of sheet metal, comprising an annular side, an end of said side being shaped by bending so as to form an annular receptacle for lubricant and said receptacle having an extremely narrow annular slit encircling said ring at the bottom of said receptacle and adjacent the upper end of said annular side, lubricant being adapted to flow fromv said receptacle through said narrow slit directly ontothe annular side.

NORIO KOBAYASHI. 

